


Home for Easter

by MinaZ



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Coronavirus Quarantine, Happy Ending, M/M, Not Beta Read, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Quarantine, Sickness, Swearing, Talking, Worry, but ignoring current politics, making use of more of the knights of the round table than just the ones on BBC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23593582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinaZ/pseuds/MinaZ
Summary: The pandemic hit when they were at least all back home. Or nearly all of them, since nobody knew where Gwaine was.
Relationships: Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), background Arthur/Merlin, background Gwen/Lancelot, background Leon/Morgana - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	Home for Easter

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Radioman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/234459) by [Footloose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Footloose/pseuds/Footloose). 



> Some aspect inspired by Footloose’ series Loaded March, which I like a lot and which thus has quite some impact on almost all my modern AU Merlin fan fictions ideas. The Knights were soldiers with Arthur as their Captain, Gwaine as a scout and sniper, Lance their medic, Merlin as the tech expert.
> 
> The behavior and opinion of the characters should not be takes as advice on how to act in this crisis.

If nothing else, at least they were not on active duty anymore when the pandemic broke out. Arthur couldn't complain, he and Merlin just had finished the renovations on the Edwardian townhouse they had bought after coming home. It was comfortable, and they had a decent sized garden in the back. 

Merlin made an annoyed sound, a little grumble combined with a huff that Arthur would not call cute because he didn’t want to sleep on the sofa. 

“What is it?” he asked the man sitting in his favorite spot in the bay window on the first floor with his laptop, tablet and phone lying around him.

“Another question if I or the druids can magic Covid away. Do they think the plague would have happened the way it did if we were able to do that? Maybe they could appreciate how much the druids are helping in the NHS instead of making more demands?” Frustrated Merlin dropped the tablet on the seat beside him and picked up the tablet, read a message and gave Arthur a big smile.

“Pellinore just wrote, he was stuck in northern Italy in a mountain cabin without internet and came home this morning. He feels good but is going to self-quarantine for two weeks and then Lucan is going to move in with him. I will feel better once he is not in that shared place anymore, one of his flatmates really does not understand what cross contamination is from what he told me.”

Arthur nodded. He had invited Lucan to stay with them, they always had two guest rooms free for any of the ‘knights’ that might need it, but he had flat out refused. Arthur had just recovered from pneumonia that he had caught on their last mission, and whether he wanted to admit it or not that meant he was more at risk than the others right now. Merlin had been doing all the grocery shopping for them and Gaius. Arthur was left with driving his old team nuts about updates.

“So that leaves…”

“Gwaine.” Merlin huffed again “Everyone else called in and is either in the UK or Ireland.”

Arthur focused on un-clenching his yaw to stop grinding his teeth together. He knew Gawaine since they were 10 years old. He knew the brash sniper could look after himself, but also that he was almost as bad a magnet for trouble as his Merlin. 

“He’s probably traveling without a phone again. Everyone agreed to let us know ASAP if they got a postcard from him.”

Merlin got up and gave his husband a long hug.

“I know you are worried. He can make a ten day trek through enemy territory on his own with barely any supplies left, trust him that he can handle himself if he is stuck somewhere as a tourist.”

That was all right and true. But Arthur had his doubts how much any scouting or sniper skill could help against a virus. But then again, pure pigheaded stubbornness might do the trick.

***

Gwen was staying with Leon and Morgana. She missed Lancelot. They had both decided that it was unwise for them to live together while she was pregnant and he was dealing with Covid patients every day. She had been so happy when they had gotten the good news only a month before Lance tour was finished. They had planned to move to a bigger flat, further outside of London, close to good schools. They had a holiday planned, before she was too far along to enjoy it. And now everything was on stand still, and it was like Lance was back in the army, in danger and far away from her. And the media making all these war comparisons didn’t help. 

“You want to go for a walk?” Leon was standing at the doorway to the kitchen. 

“Not too busy outside?”

Leon shrugged. “It’s six o’clock in the morning, I think we can risk a short stroll through the park without running into too many people.”

They quickly dressed, Leon left Morgana, who was still sleeping, a note. It was surprisingly warm outside for the early morning. There was one jogger, one elderly man was walking his dog, and two exhausted looking women were heading in the direction of the tube station. Leon and Gwen turned into the opposite direction toward a small park, keeping to the opposite side of the street from the jogger. 

It was looking like it was going to be a nice day. The street was quieter than usual, but she could almost pretend that it was just a slow day. Leon kept looking at his phone while they walked. 

“Any news?”

“Yes, Kay got a really hideous postcard from Gwaine. Problem is the stamp is from over three months ago, that’s not really helpful except that we know he was still travelling then.”  
Gwen nodded “Where it is from?”

Leon showed her a picture of some fat, evil looking cherubs. “Was he also in Italy?”

Leon shook his head. “No, at least not recently. The card is from Rome, he is writing about Egypt and the stamp is from Portugal from mid January. I hate when he does that.”

Gwen giggled. “He knows, I think that why he keeps doing it.”

***

Percival was staring at the wall. He was still living in the place he had shared with Gwaine before they had broken up. Again. There was much he could do, even though he was pretty much done with the work he could reasonably do from home. He had free time. He could cook something nice. Go up on the roof terrace they… he had access to and enjoy the sun and a good book. Do some drawing. Watch a movie. 

He kept staring at the wall. He had read one of his favorite books again, which had been nice. But try as he might, he could not find the concentration for anything new. He went to the windowsill and checked the earth inside the egg box if it was still damp. There were some first green leaves coming out. Percival never had been much of a gardener, though he had to admit seeing something grow right now was soothing. 

Gwaine had left a few plants in the flat. He had offered to give them all away when he moved out, as he usually did when the wanderlust hit him again, but Percival had agreed to keep some. Like Percival, Leon and Arthur, Gwaine had first finished uni before signing up with the army. He had studied agriculture and wildlife management, something that always surprised people, though Percival knew how well it fit his friend. Gwaine was a very patient man, just not with anything that normal people were patient with. 

Percival signed, and read the postcard again that Key had posted on the group channel. 

‘Dia dhuit! Hope you haven’t moved. Egypt is not as hot as I expected it to be, but then again it’s winter. Did you know that you can't climb on the pyramids anymore? So of course I didn’t ;).  
All the best to everyone! - G’

From Italy to Egypt to Portugal. If Gwaine was doing a Europe round trip he might already be back in the UK. Or he might have gone westward and was in Mexico or Japan or for all Percy knew in China now. That was unlikely, because in January the situation was already becoming clear. But then why wasn’t he checking in with anyone?

***

~ Worldst#1hotshot has joint the chat ‘Knights’  
Worldst#1hotshot (9:26): Dia dhuit!  
Worldst#1hotshot (9:27): Done w the quarantineing, vry boooring weeks. Have a phone again :D - G

Percival was staring at his phone. He started typing. And pressed delete. And started typing again. And deleted it again. In the upper corner of the chat he could see several people writing, stopping, writing and not posting anything. What was he supposed to say to that?!

Wizzard1 (9:42): You stupid asshole!  
Leon K. (9:43): Seriously, what were you thinking?  
#2outof3Gs (9:43): Mate, not funny!  
Pellinore (9:45): What they said, wtf?  
Knight1 (9:47): Call me after lunch. We need to talk. 

Percival deleted his latest message and switch to the private chat. Closed his eyes and just took deep breaths for several minutes.

GentleGiant (10:02): are you okay?  
Worldst#1hotshot (10:05): Hey, someone cares!  
GentleGiant (10:07): Yes. How are you? I was worried.  
Worldst#1hotshot (10:11): Still shaky. That corona stuff sucks balls. Felt like shit for two weeks, and nothing but a few paperbacks in portuguese, a crappy radio and my old ipod. People who say you can speak portugease when you knwo spanish are fking liars. Did actually that buy enough for two weeks stuff they suggested when I arrived back the first day, then was sick. Not that i really ate much the last week. Is everyone else healthy?  
GentleGinat (10:13): Yes. Are you better now? Whre are you?  
Gentle Giant (10:13): Can i call you?  
Worldst#1hotshot (10:14): yep

The phone rang three times before it was answered.

“Hi.”  
“Gwaine.” Percival let his head fall back and let himself slide down the wall.  
“The one and only.” The voice sounded forced cheerful and hoarser. Before Percival could ask again he continued.  
“I’m fine Percy, done with the symptoms and then waited some more like they said on the radio and now just feeling shitty. You should have seen how much space I had when I picked up this phone, looking like a zombie gets you extra fast service right now, who knew?  
“Where are you staying?”  
“Friend in Soho always finds a space I can rent when I need it. Not much, but running water, a loo, a bed and a fridge. I really need to wash my stuff though.”  
“Come move back in.” Percy surprised himself saying.  
“Perc…”  
“No, listen. That was a shitty ultimatum I gave you and I’m sorry and I don’t want you to stay in some dingy place when you only just recovered.”  
There was a long pause.  
“Percy, I didn’t just leave because of you…”  
“Then that’s even more a reason to come back, right? I’m not saying forever, if you don’t want, the other are also staying in pairs mostly too. Please?”  
Another long pause.  
“All right.”

For the next two hours Percival cleaned up an already clean flat, folded down the guest sofa, because he wasn’t going to assume anything, and generally just moved around. When the bell finally rang, he was at the door in seconds. 

There in front of him stood Gwaine Green. Pale with his perpetual three days stubble, hair clean but looking like it had been washed with soap. He looked thinner again, but gave Percy a smile that looked mostly real, not a grin. 

“Hi.”

Percival moved forward but the other shook his head. 

“Let me first clean up and clean my stuff, then we can talk, k?”

Nodding, Percival grabbed a pair of one way gloves from the kitchen and took Gwaines backpack.

“You know where the shower is, use what you want. There should be a new toothbrush under the sink.”

Gwaine nodded, but first moved to the kitchen to undress and throw the clothes he was wearing directly into the washing machine. Unabashed as always he gave Percy a wink and swaggered to the bathroom naked. 

While the smaller man was taking his time in the shower, which was probably for the best, Percy unpacked the backpack. Clothes directly in the machine, anything that could be wiped down he cleaned with the cheap Vodka he had bought when it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to buy any disinfectants. The books and papers he found he wasn’t sure about want to do with them, so with the vague memory that the virus didn’t like it dry or UV light he put them outside in the sun. He tried to keep Lance advice in mind and removed one glove to switch on the washing machine and open the doors and stuff, but he wasn’t sure if he was doing a good job of it. The backpack he just left next to the washing machine, it would go in after once Gwaine had emptied the hidden pockets for money and weapons that were surely in there. 

“Hi again.” 

Gwaine was standing in the living room, towel wrapped around his hip and a very large tank top that looked more like a dress on him. 

“Food?” 

“Oh, fuck, yes! Please.”

They sat together on the fold out sofa munching a stack of sandwiches.

“So what else made you leave?”

“Hm?” Gwaine was not looking at him.

“You said it was not just me being stupid, so what else. You… you usually don’t stay out of contact this long, even after we broke up.”

Gwaine took a large gulp of his drink before leaning back. Now he was looking and Percy, thought what he was looking for was anyones guess. 

“I talked with someone after our last mission.”

“Someone?”

“You know.” Gwaine made a vague gesture toward his head. “About… stuff from the last years. And feelings and shit.” 

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah. We also talked about the team, you know and…” Gwaine looked away again, out of the window, not focused on a target like Percy was used to, but eyes traveling from a bird in the sky, to the trees to the windows on the other site of the street.

“You know I’m okay with the whole swearing and pranks ‘n’ stuff, did a lot of that myself.” he continued after a long break. “But she made me think about the details, and… it’s not really cool to be called a whore and a freak and fairy and stuff by the people who are supposed to be your friends. I got enough of that shit at home. And ye know, I said naw, that’s just how we talked, and then she asked me what you all called each other and you know all I could come up with asshole and prick and bullshit like that. Thing is, it’s not being bi, is it, I mean no ones got a problem with Merls or the Princess, so I figured the problem was me. And then we talked about you, and I don’t really think you like me very much, more like you like a hypothetical version of me that you think I should become and I thought I want to be the person you want me to be, but I would rather you would want the person I am and I… “ Gwaine was breathing heavily by then, still not looking at Percival.

“I’m sorry” he whispered.  
“No!” Percival shook his head. Why hadn’t he realized that things were going this badly?  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…. Fuck, I wish that didn’t happen in the middle of a world wide pandemic.”

“Yeah, me too. I called Dr. Singh before I wrote you and she pointed out that there were better options than running away for months without any way of contact. Like, finishing the sessions she and I still had left. But she is cool, she said we could continue in two weeks. She’s pretty booked right now. Do you know what Zoom is?”

Percival recognized a distraction when he heard one, but before he could say anything, Gwaines freshly disinfected phone was ringing from the kitchen. He went and fetched it to give his friend the chance to wipe the tears of his face without being obvious about it. 

The caller ID showed Arthurs number. Percival picked up and closed the kitchen door behind himself. An annoyed voice greeted him. 

“Gwaine, I told you to call me.”

“It’s Percival.”

“He’s with you? How is he?”

“Bad.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“No.” 

“Percy, listen, we are all worried.”

“No, Arthur we fucked up pretty badly, and he doesn’t need his ex-CO shouting at him right now.”

“How about one of his oldest friends who is really worried?”

Percival was still unsure, but the kitchen door opened and Gwaine was just holding out his hand.

“Okay.” handing over the phone Percy went back to the living room, while Gwaine took the stairs to the roof. 

***

The call lasted for several hours, and at some point Arthur was frantically looking for a charger, which Merlin handed him from the drawer where it was supposed to be. 

Afterwards Arthur was pale and his eyes a little red, and he just face-planted into the sofa next to his husband. 

“How is he? You know I would have liked to talk with him too.”

“I know, sorry. We just needed to establish that we are both idiots and sorry, you can do that tomorrow.” Arthur turned around and looked up at Merlin, who was still on his laptop.  
“He actually had Covid-19, on the ugly side of ‘mild’, and he was all alone for it. Apparently because we are un-supportive bastards.”

“His words?”

“No, mine.”

Merlin put the laptop down and cuddled up next to Arthur. 

“I’m glad he’s back” 

“Yeah, me too.”

***

Percy was stirring honey into the tea, while Gwaine was wrapped in a blanket in front of the television. The bigger man sat the mugs down on the coffee table before sitting down next to him. He blankly stared at a couple of guys who fit rooms into small houses on wheels and was glad for his spacious flat. 

“I do like you the way you are. I just worry about you getting in trouble, and I’m sorry.”

Gwaine didn’t say anything for a while, before moving to slowly lean against his friend. Percival took the invitation to put his arms around his shoulders. 

“I could have handled that better too. I guess I got a little lost inside my own head.”

“And then you had several weeks to think of nothing else?”

“Yeah, that didn’t really help.”

“Gwaine? Please always come back? I know I shouldn’t have asked you to stay, but please come back after.”

By the time the show was over Percival was sure Gwaine had fallen asleep. But when he got up and turn off the light he heard a low “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> That was a lot more dialog than planned and about three fic ideas combined now. But it felt good to just write everything down, hope you enjoyed it. :)


End file.
